Hamer Guitars: Guitar Designer Jol Dantzig

Handmade Guitars, Really Made by Hand

Today, I was working on a project and glanced over at Tom, who was drilling the tuner holes in a trio of Korina Standards that he was building. He'd measured and marked out the locations, then center punched each one with a scribe. As he began to work on the drill press, I thought about how many times I've read about "handmade" guitars that are really just made in a factory—so I grabbed the video camera. Here it is folks, the real deal. No marketing BS or mojo-spin, just real artists working without a net.

Earthen "Tally" Guitars Take Shape

Now that the the Earthen Talladega guitars have been in progress for a while, the guys have been busy with the details. As we saw in the previous post Enrico was doing the top matches and cutting out the bodies in order to "catch up" with the necks. He'd cut a slice of each top to be used for the headstock faceplate first because the necks take longer and must be started first. When we started this project a few months ago

Tom roughed out the neck blanks and installed a truss rods—then the slices of maple were glued onto the headstocks and inlaid with a pearl logos.

Before the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard is glued on, Dave binds the head using the heat gun to soften the cellulose ivoroid strips as he bends it around the corners and glues it down.

The next step is to bond the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard on and let the entire assembly sit for a few months to "normalize" and take its final set before putting a radius on the playing surface. We'll come back after a few more days and see how some of the first guitars are doing.

This shot is of number 23 (of 25) so we're getting close to seeing something that looks like an actual guitar!

Music Radar Provides Talladega Tuesday

Very few things in life can kick-start your day like some really appreciative feedback. Out there, in the corporate world, savvy managers know this, and use it to motivate their team. Nothing is more counterproductive at 6:00 AM than a dour remark. Luckily, here in the workshop I don't have to manufacture reasons to praise our guys. Our customers, associates and peers cherish our work and heap praise upon us—I merely pass it on.

Sometimes uplifting news is from a client who has left a voice mail or email about how blown away they are, having just received their new guitar. Other times it's news from a touring artist who is getting some great performance out of one of our instruments. Or, like today, someone sends a link to a magazine review of our stuff—like this one. It's an outfit called Musicradar in England, and they've done a history lesson about Hamer as well as a Taladega spread.

I don't know who these guys are or how they got their hands on a Talladega over there in Britain, but they seem to really like it. They've obviously done their homework, as there are a ton of quotes lifted from interviews and promotional material. I'd have to say that they've captured the essence of what the Talladega is all about. You can read it here.

Of course, we're professionals and know all about "self-motivation" so nothing inspires us as much as knowing we're doing our own best work. Our allegiance is to our craft. That said, it is nice to know that we're appreciated. It made us feel so good that we put on some Greg V music and got right back to work.

Limba Monaco Guitar Goes Gold

One of our favorite flavors is African limba. This lightweight and resonant wood machines much like mahogany, but has a characteristic airiness to its tone. We've applied it to many of our designs and even more custom orders. Here, Todd "The God" Gencarella is doing the final leveling of the lacquer on a Monaco built from Limba. This is the last step before he takes it to the buffing wheel. He'll block the finish flat using progressively finer grits of sandpaper (down to 1800) until it is ready to buff. This is the third time Todd will have sanded this guitar's finish—for a total of about three hours.

Each one of the three guys in the finishing area takes a single guitar all the way through the leveling, assembly, wiring and final setup. After the hardware goes on and the electricals are done, the fun part is bringing the guitar's voice to life in the set up room. Todd has now adjusted the pickups, intonation, truss rod and action. He's also changed his shirt. The limba adds an open feel to the sound of the Monaco and is perfectly matched to the unpotted Duncans we've chosen for it. This would be a great guitar for funk and roots music—not too dark or mid-rangy. The light weight is a bonus too.

I'm not always a fan of gold hardware, but on this axe it really works.

Night Falcon Bass Update

Our hollow-body bass project for Jack Blades is proceeding quickly and is just about ready to hit the paint booth. Here's Dave at the belt sander bringing the string nut down close to final height. He starts with a tall blank that has been cut and sanded to a wedge shape, then he will make a pencil mark where he wants the top to be. Using a belt sander, Dave will take the top surface down to the mark, rotating it to create a curve that matches the fingerboard radius. He'll finish it up by hand, smoothing the edges and corners.

Careful Dave... that belt is aggressive!

Here I am checking the selector switch fit. Mike has done a beautiful job "Frenching" in the nut, as the hot-rodders say... It's a little detail that makes us happy. We make our own switch-nuts, distinguishable by the two little grooves in the front surface. We've built some special tools (seen lying on the table) that are used to tighten the nut onto the switch. In this case, with the nut sunk flush to the top of the bass, it's the only way to get it tight.

The body is sanded and ready to accept the neck. As with all of our instruments, the socket for the neck has been cut undersize and will be opened up by hand at the last moment before the neck is fitted.

Now the neck can be snugged into rout for one last dry fit before it is bonded to the body. At this point we check for alignment and neck pitch with a special fixture that allows us to mock up the clamped piece and put a straight edge on the top of the frets.

Now it's a matter of waiting for the glue to dry overnight before prepping for finish. It won't be long now!

Gorgeous Guitars Get Going

Here in the tiny hamlet of New Hartford, Connecticut, it feels finally feels like spring. My morning "commute" along the Farmington River provided a glorious sight as the sun rose over the mountains. When I rounded the bend and caught the first glimpse of New Hartford, I was compelled to stop and take this photo. The entire town can be seen from this point—the bank, the barber shop, Hoffman's Hardware store (where they know us all by name) and the pizza restaurant (where they know us by name too). Just beyond, our workshop is by the right side of the river.

Inside the shop, things are moving along as usual. Plenty of custom guitars to be completed, and lots of new ones being laid out as well. Regular readers of this blog will recall that we used about one half of our stash of "earthen" maple billets to build twenty-five beautiful guitars. So, with the rebirth that is springtime, it seems appropriate to begin the genesis of another limited run with the remaining pieces.

Several weeks ago the seeds had been sown for a Talladega-based Earthen guitar. If you look closely in the post about Monday Morning Guitar Builders you'll see Tom building one of the necks as the first step.

Now that the necks have had several weeks head-start, it's time to begin the body construction, so my first stop today is in the mill area to consult with Enrico.

Here he is at the small bandsaw, making a rough cut on the maple top. He's already routed the internal chambers and finished the inside carve of the top. After pinning and bonding the maple top to the back, he brings the top down close to the final shape.

This is the rough blank, ready to be shaped and routed. As before, each top is completely different from the next with its own special character. I can't wait to get a little further along so that you can see where this is headed.

In the other room, Dave is binding the headstocks. Here he is with the trusty heat gun, softening the ivoroid material so he can bend it around the curve. Because of the added brightness of the mineral saturated maple, I've decided to use mahogany for the necks. I think this will help balance the tone of the guitar as well as make it a little different from the "stock" Talladega. As always, the headstock faceplate has been sliced from the exact same piece of maple that will be used on the body, so Dave has to keep track of all the necks as they move through the room.

I'll be checking up on the progress of these guitars over the next few weeks, so if you have any specifics that you want us to cover, say hello and leave a suggestion!

Long May She...ROCK!

Girls in uniform! We got a little note today from one of our customers who received the custom airbrushed "flag" Standard.
I'll just fast-forward to it:

I'd like to thank you guys for makin' this possible. Yes she cried when she saw it like the last one haha. I'd like to tell you how much I appreciate you making guitars to my specs. I may own a few other brands but I always play Hamer!

Randy

Randy and Lisa, thanks to both of you for helping to keep ALL our dreams alive!

Guitar Builders turn Rockstar!

Building guitars by hand is a somewhat solitary venture; a stark contrast to the the world in which those instruments are meant to perform. Most days, we go about our business quietly, almost secretly. Ok, occasionally, we have to let the world know we exist in order to remain in business, but for the most part we're really quite happy to follow our hearts and stay focused on what really matters—doing great work.

Other times, we're thrust into the spotlight, like when we're interviewed by a magazine or filmed for television. When I go on the road to visit our dealers I literally take the stage for Hamer. But sometimes, it's a customer who swings the white hot beam of light into our workshop, and puts the guys center stage.

That's what happened this week when one of our good customers, a guy who has a nice little collection of super-customized Hamers, asked us to autograph his hat. Of course we were happy to oblige, but the guys in the shop were almost embarrassed about it. We like to let the work speak for itself, and believe me, it's a team effort. So, in that spirit, we all signed the cap as a team. It's just a way for us to say thanks, and connect with a "fan."

A good way to end the week...

Dave takes the first swing as the rest of the crew watches.

Todd puts his mark on the back while Gary, Tom, Mark and Mike wait their turns.

Mark, Jamie and Todd loom in the background as Mike D. wields the pen.

Hey, don't forget to take advantage of our free subscription offer. Get a one year subscription to Premier Guitar Magazine just for signing in below.

Just click below and put in the code "HAMER" to get started. It’s just our way of saying thanks for being part of the Hamer family. Enjoy what is normally a $14.95 subscription value (almost $60 on the newsstand)!

Click to receive your free annual subscription from Hamer Guitars and enter promo code: HAMER

Free Stuff for Guitarists!

A few days ago some of the dudes from Premier Guitar magazine stopped by to soak up the vibe at the Hamer Tone Ranch. We're usually pretty absorbed in making guitars, but we know how to turn on the charm when we have guests. We shouldn't have worried—turns out that they're as fanatic about guitars as we are. Seems that they've been reading this very blog and wanted some custom guitar action for themselves. Their ulterior motives were showing as they ogled the Honduras, Brazilian and African Limba. These guys had GAS and we had the cure. When we had them right where we wanted them, we sprang an idea on 'em: how about some FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS for our blog readers?

They couldn't say no. Of course we threatened them with a headlock from Jamie, but it didn't have to go that far. So, here it is... enjoy!

Our Gift for You!
As a special, but limited offer, we're happy to provide our blog readers with the opportunity to receive a free annual subscription to Premier Guitar magazine by simply following the link below and filling out a form.
Premier Guitar is a wonderful resource for serious and accomplished players and we’ve weaseled them into providing a free, annual subscription to their beautiful monthly magazine, all compliments of the boys at Hamer Guitars.

This offer expires on April 30, 2008 or whenever the first 1,000 subscription orders are received (pretty darn likely before April 30, so act now).

Just click below and put in the code "HAMER" to get started. It’s just our way of saying thanks for being part of the Hamer family. Enjoy what is normally a $14.95 subscription value (almost $60 on the newsstand)!

Click to receive your free annual subscription from Hamer Guitars and enter promo code: HAMER

If you're unfamiliar with Premier Guitar, click here to look at the digital version of their April issue . . . what a clever green initiative by the Premier Guitar folks. Save trees for guitars!

Tricky legal stuff: Subscriptions are available only to qualifying residents of the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Your subscription is sponsored by and has been reserved on your behalf by Hamer Guitars.

Jazzadega Guitar Complete

Let's skip the wordy stuff and get right to some tantalizing photos of the Jazz-flavored, single pickup Talladega we've been following. After months of waiting, it's ready to comp, swing and sizzle.

Complete with impeccable details, premium woods, flatwounds and Bartolini humbucker at the neck position, it's the Anti-Halen axe. It's one man's ideal custom guitar—what do you think?